The Writing
by 88SymmetryIsBeauty88
Summary: There's been something inside Chloe's head, telling her to write. She's written a whole forty-nine chapters on their last adventures. (Basically, the Darkest Powers characters read "The Reckoning." I've censored the language as best I can, so sorry if there are any slip-ups.) -ON HIATUS-
1. Prologue

**A/N: Heyyy guys! It's been so long since I wrote on FanFiction. Well, I'm back, and I reallly hope you like this story. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Darkest Powers. That belongs to Kelley Armstrong.**

**Prologue**

**** Chloe stared straight ahead at the wall, her hand moving at an alarming speed across the page, pencil in hand.

_"Yes," _the voice in her head whispered. _"You're doing well.." _

Chloe abruptly stopped writing and stared at the pages the voice had her write, her small, neat handwriting filling every empty spot on the paper.

"I don't know what to write next," Chloe muttered to herself.

The Voice in her head showed her a scene that played in her mind, and she knew what to write next. The scene ended, and Chloe began writing out the scene. Her pencil flew across the paper, locked in the trance once more.

* * *

*One Week Later* Chloe's POV

I finished writing on the sheet, the Voice that was in my head slowly leaving my mind. I looked down at the forty-nine 'chapters' I'd written. Or, the forty-nine 'chapters' the Voice had me write. As I straightened the pile of papers that had been steadily growing since last week, I felt that strange tingly feeling you get when you think someone's watching you.

I whipped my head around to find Tori watching me from the doorway to our room.

"Finally awake, huh?" she said.

"I was never asleep," I countered.

She rolled her eyes. "I meant you snapped out of that... trance you were in. Lucky thing, too. Derek and Simon were getting pretty worried."

I nodded. "Oh. But why were they worried?"

Tori sighed. "Oh, I don't know, maybe because you stared straight at that wall for 10 days, maybe more, writing page after page without eating, sleeping or drinking?"

I nodded again. "I see."

She came into the room and peered over my shoulder at the pages. "So what is it?"

"I-I'm not sure," I admitted.

Tori raised her eyebrows. "How can you not be sure?"

"T-there was this v-voice in my head," I said, stuttering again. "I-it was kind of t-telling me to write t-this."

I straightened the papers and set them on the desk.

"Huh." Tori said. "Well, let's see it!" She locked me in a binding spell - really? - and lunged for the stack of papers. She snatched them up and the spell unlocked. I reached for the papers but she held them away.

"Hey!" I yelled.

"You want it, come and get it!" Tori shouted back, even though we were in the same room. She held it above her head, jerking out of my way every time I jumped and made a grab for it.

"My God, Tori," I said, exasperated. "Why do you want it so badly?"

"I want to see the reason you spent over a week holed up in here," she said.

Just then, Simon walked in. "Hi - what's going on?"

"Tori won't give me back my papers!" I said.

"Come on, Tori." Simon said. "Give them back."

"Why should I?" Tori snapped.

Simon sighed. "If you won't give them to Chloe..." He got a mischievous glint in his eyes and a crooked smile spread on his face. "Give them to me!"

Tori passed the papers to Simon and he sat down right there, on the floor.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm going to read it, out loud, so we can all hear," Simon said simply.

Tori grinned. "I'm up for it."

I slumped my shoulders, looked at the floor and mumbled a dejected, "I guess."

"Cool, thanks, Chloe." Simon flashed me a grin. He turned to the doorway. "Derek!" he yelled.

Derek appeared in the doorway, hands in his pockets and a scowl on his face. "What?"

"We're gonna read that thing Chloe's been working on forever!"

I crossed my arms. "Only... twelve days."

"I have stuff to do," Derek said.

"Like what?" Simon asked. "Explore the motel?"

Derek's scowl deepened and he muttered, "Fine."

"I'm reading first!" Simon yelled. I sighed, Derek sat down next to me and Simon read the first page.


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: i decided for them just to read "The Reckoning" in case the idea's already been used, and i really don't want it to feel like i'm stealing someone's idea. **

**Disclaimer: i don't own Darkest Powers.. sadly..**

_Chapter 1 Chloe's POV_

Simon held the paper in front of him and began to read.

**After four nights on the run, I was finally safe, tucked into bed and enjoying the deep, dreamless sleep of the dead...until the dead decided they'd really rather have me awake. It started with a laugh that slid into my sleep and pulled me out of it. As I rose on my elbows, blinking and struggling to remember where I was, a whisper snaked around me, words indistinguishable. **

Tori shivered. "That's just creepy..."

**I rubbed my eyes and yawned. Dull gray light shone through the curtains. The room was silent and still. No ghosts, thank God. **

_At least, not yet, _I thought.

**I'd had enough in the last few weeks to last me a lifetime. A scrape at the window made me jump. These days, every branch scratching the glass sounded like a zombie I'd raised from the dead, clawing to get in. **

Derek put an arm across my shoulders, as if to protect me from a zombie that wasn't there.

**I went to the window and pulled back the curtains. It'd been nearly dawn by the time we got to the house, so I knew it had to be at least midmorning, but the fog outside was so thick I couldn't see anything. I leaned closer, nose pressed to the cold glass.**

**A bug splattered against the window and I jumped a foot in the air. **

Tori snickered, and I glared daggers at her. 

**A laugh sounded behind me. I whirled, but Tori was still in bed, whimpering in her sleep. She'd thrown off the covers and was curled up on her side, her dark hair spiked across the pillow.**

We all glanced at Tori, but her eyes were averted.

**Another chuckle erupted behind me. Definitely a guy's laugh. But no one was there. No, strike that. I just couldn't ****_see_**** anyone. For a necromancer, that doesn't mean no one ****_is _****there. **

**I squinted, trying to catch the flicker of a ghost and saw, off to the left, the flash of a hand that was gone before I could see more.**

Simon paused to turn the page.

**"Looking for someone, little necro?" **

**I spun. "Who's there?" **

**A snicker answered me - the kind of snicker every fifteen-year-old girl has heard a million times from jerk boys. **

**"If you want to talk to me, you have to show yourself," I said. **

**"Talk to you?" he said in an arrogant high school quarterback voice. "I think you're the one who wants to talk to me." **

**I snorted and headed back to bed. **

Derek nodded, as if agreeing with my decision.

**"No?" His voice slid around me. "Huh. I figured you'd want to know more about the Edison Group, the Genesis experiments, Dr. Davidoff..." **

**I stopped. **

**He laughed. "Thought so." **

**The four of us - Tori, Derek, Simon, and me - were on the run from the Edison Group after discovering we were subjects in the Genesis project, an experiment for genetically modifying supernaturals. My aunt Lauren had been one of the doctors involved, but she'd betrayed her colleagues by helping us get away. **

I dropped my head to stare at the ground, reminded of Aunt Lauren.

**Now she was being held captive. Or so I hoped. Last night, when the Edison Group tracked us down, a ghost had tried to help me... a ghost who had looked like Aunt Lauren. **

I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes, hot and salty. Simon stopped and I blinked the tears back as I looked up. 

"You want me to stop?" he asked.

I shook my head. "Might as well keep going." He nodded and continued.

**We were supposedly in a safe house owned by a group opposing the experiments. Now a teenaged ghost showed up, knowing about the project? I wasn't about to banish him, however tempting it might be. **

**"Show yourself," I said. **

**"Bossy little necro, aren't you?" His voice slid behind me. "You just want to see if I'm as hot as I sound." **

Tori snorted. "As if." I nodded. 

**I closed my eyes, pictured a vague male form, and gave a mental tug. He began to materialize - a dark-haired guy, maybe sixteen, seventeen, nothing special, but with a smarmy smile that said he thought he was. I could still see through him, like he was a hologram, so I closed my eyes to give him another pull. **

**"Uh-uh," he said. "You want more, we gotta get to know each other a little better." He disappeared again. **

**"What do you want?" I asked. **

**He whispered in my ear. "Like I said, to get to know you better. Not here, though. You'll wake your friend. She's cute, but not really my type." His voice moved to the door. "I know a place where we can chat in private." **

Beside me, Derek stiffened. "It's fine," I whispered. He relaxed.

**Yeah, right. Did he think I'd just started talking to ghosts yesterday? Well, close - two weeks ago, actually. But I'd already seen enough to know that while there were some ghosts who wanted to help and some who just wanted to talk, there were more who wanted to cause a little trouble, spice up their afterlife. This guy definitely fell in the last category. **

**Still, if he was another Edison Group subject, one who'd presumably died in this house, I needed to find out what had happened to him. But I wanted backup. Tori had no experience helping me with ghosts and, while we were getting along better, she still wasn't anyone I wanted watching my back. **

Tori frowned. "Um, excuse me?" I shrugged and gestured for Simon to continue.

**So I followed the ghost into the hall, but stopped at Simon and Derek's door. **

**"Uh-uh," the ghost said. "You don't need to bring a guy along." **

**"They'd like to talk to you, too." I raised my voice, praying Derek would hear me. He usually woke at the slightest noise - werewolves have superhearing. All I could hear, though, was Simon's snores. **

Simon shifted uncomfortably, and I grinned.

**There was no one else upstairs. Andrew, the guy who'd brought us here, had taken the downstairs bedroom. **

**"Come on, necro girl. This is a limited-time offer." **

**_You know he's up to no good, Chloe. _**

"Darned right, he's not," Derek muttered. I just sighed.

**Yes, but I also needed to know if we were in danger here. I decided to proceed with extreme caution. My subconcious voice didn't argue, which I took as a positive sign. I started walking. **

**We'd gone straight to bed after we got here, so I hadn't gotten a good look at our new place. I only knew that it was huge - a rambling Victorian straight out of a Gothic horror movie. **

**As I followed the voice down the hall, I had the weird sense I was in one of those movies, caught in an endless narrow corridor, passing closed door after closed door until I finally reached the staircase... heading up. **

"That was the roof door," I said.

**From what I'd seen of the house as we'd driven up, it was three stories. The bedrooms were on the second floor, and Andrew had said the third was an attic. So the ghost was leading me to the dark, spooky attic? I wasn't the only one who'd seen too many horror films. **

**I followed him up the stairs. They ended at a landing with two doors. I paused. A hand appeared through the door in front of me, beckoning. I took a second to prepare myself. No matter how dark it was in there, I couldn't let him see my fear. When I was ready, I grabbed the doorknob and - **

"Lemme guess, it was locked," Tori said.

**It was locked. **

"See, what did I say?" Tori then frowned. "I should have bet money on that..."

**I turned the dead bolt latch and it clicked free. Another deep breath, another second of mental preparation, then I swung the door open and stepped in - **

**A blast of cold air knocked me back. I blinked. Ahead, fog swirled. ****_A dead bolt on an attic door, Chloe? _**

**No, I was standing on the roof. **

"And that's the end of Chapter One," Simon said, flipping another page. He held up the stack of papers. "Who wants to read next?"

"I will," Tori said, then snatched the pages from Simon and picked up for Chapter Two.


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: Heeeyyyy again. Here is an update for ya! I would like to give a shout-out and thanks to my first (and hopefully not last) reviewer, Book-Geek4! U rock! Stay awesome xD ! anyway, read on, and please leave a review 2 make my day!**

**Disclaimer: i dont own Darkest Powers. x(**

* * *

_Chapter__Two_

Tori began reading before Simon could protest.

"Chapter Two," she read...

**I wheeled as the door swung closed behind me. I caught the edge, but something hit it, hard, and it slammed home. I grabbed the handle as the dead bolt clanked shut. **

I saw Simon frown out of the corner of my eye.

**I twisted the knob, sure I was mistaken. **

**"Leaving so soon?" he said. "How rude." **

**I stared down at the handle. Only one very rare type of ghost could move stuff in the living world. **

**"An Agito half-demon," I whispered. **

**"Agito?" He twisted the word with contempt. "I'm top-of-the-line, baby. I'm a Volo." **

This time, it was Derek who frowned, brows furrowed as he thought.

**Which meant nothing to me. I could only guess it was a more powerful type. In life, a telekinetic half-demon could move objects mentally. **

**In death, they could move them physically. A poltergeist. **

"Like Liz?" Tori said, looking up. I nodded. She kept reading.

**I took a careful step back. Wood creaked underfoot, reminding me of where I was. I stopped short and looked around. I was on a kind of walkway that circled the third floor - the attic, I presumed. **

"So you followed a ghost to what you thought was the third floor, but he took you to the roof instead, where he slammed the door behind you and keeps laying all this sh*t on you, and you didn't head back to your room?" Simon asked, raising an eyebrow. I nodded and he flashed a crooked smile. "Fantastic."

**To my right was a nearly flat section littered with rusty bottle caps and beer cans, like someone had used it as a makeshift patio. **

"Remember when I used to hang out up there?" Simon cut in.

I looked at him. "You went up there - "

"Guys!" Tori said. "You gonna chat all day, or are we going to read the book?"

I clamped my mouth shut and let her read.

**That calmed me down. I wasn't stranded on a roof, just a balcony. Annoying, but safe enough. **

**I rapped on the door, lightly, not really wanting to wake anyone, but hoping Derek might notice. **

"That's what that was?" Derek rumbled. I shrugged, as if to say, _Probably._

**"No one's going to hear you," **

Derek grunted.

**the ghost said. "We're all alone. Just the way I like it." **

"Wait a minute, now he's hitting on you?" Simon asked. I rolled my eyes.

**I lifted my hand to bang on the door, then stopped. Dad always said the best way to deal with a bully was not to let him know you were frightened. **

"Or her," Simon said, with a pointed look at Tori.

"Just 'cause I'm po - " she stopped. "Because I _was_ popular, doesn't mean I was a b*tch."

**At the thought of my father, my throat tightened. was he still looking for me? Of course, he was, and there was nothing I could do. **

Derek gave my shoulder a quick, comforting squeeze, to which I gave a half-smile.

**Dad's advice for bullies had worked with the kids who mocked my stutter - they gave up when they couldn't get a reaction from me. **

**So I took a deep breath and went on the offensive. **

**"You said you know about the Edison Group and their experiments," I said. "Were you a subject?" **

**"Boring. Let's talk about you. Got a boyfriend? I bet you do. Cute girl like you, hanging out with two guys. You've gotta have hooked up with one of them by now. So which one?" He laughed. "Dumb question. The cute girl would get the cute guy. The chink." **

Simon perked up. "He thought - "

I raised a hand to stop him. "Why are you always the one talking?"

He shrugged. "I'm talkative. Can't do anything about that, now can we?"

Derek snorted. "We'll see." Simon frowned.

**He meant Simon, who was half Korean. he was baiting me, seeing if I'd leap to Simon's defense and prove he was my boyfriend. He wasn't. Well, not yet, though we seemed to be heading that way. **

Tori smirked. "'Not yet?' Wow, Chloe."

"I-I just wrote wh-what the Voice told m-me to," I said, my stutter cropping up again. I mentally cursed myself for stuttering for something as simple as a taunt. I took a breath. "And it seemed that way at the time."

**"If you want me to stay and talk, I need some answers first," I said. **

**He laughed. "Yeah? Doesn't look to me like you're going anywhere." **

**I grabbed the doorknob again. A bottle cap pinged off my cheek just below the eye. I glowered in his direction. **

"Now he's throw - " Simon stopped. "Right, sorry, talking too much again." He put a hand over his chest, bowed, and put on a cheesy British accent. "My deepest apologies." I laughed and chucked a pillow at him.

**"That was only a warning shot, little necro." A nasty tone edged his voice. "Around heere, we play ****_my_**** game by ****_my_**** rules. Now, tell me about your boyfriend." **

**"I don't have one. If you know anything about the Genesis experiment, then you know we aren't here for a vacation. Being on the run doesn't leave much time for romance." **

**"Don't get snarky with me." **

**I banged on the door. The next bottle cap hit my eye, stinging. **

Derek frowned.

**"You're in danger, little girl. Don't you care?" His voice lowered to my ear. "Right now, I'm your best friend, so you'd better treat me good. You've just been led into a trap and I'm the only one who can get you out." **

Tori snorted. "Some friend you got there."

**"Led? By who? The guy who brought us here - " I thought up a fake name fast. "Charles?" **

Tori and Simon started cracking up. Even Derek seemed to be suppressing a grin, hiding it behind his mop of black hair.

"Charles?" Simon repeated. He and Tori were out of breath, faces red from laughter.

"Of all - the names in - the world, and - you pick - Charles?" Tori gasped between laughs.

I scowled. Tori seemed to calm down enough to keep reading.

**"No, some total stranger, and Charles just happened to bring you here. What a coincidence." **

**"But he said he doesn't work for the Edison Group anymore. He used to be their doctor - "**

**"He still is." **

**"H-he's Dr. Fellows? The one they were talking about at the lab?"**

**"None other." **

**"Are you sure?" **

**"I'd never forget that face." **

**"Huh, well that's weird. First, his name isn't Charles. Second, he's not a doctor. Third, I know Dr. Fellows. She's my aunt, and that guy downstairs looks nothing like her." **

Simon nodded, a look of mock seriousness on his face. "Clever." He gave me a thumbs-up.

**The blow hit me from behind, striking hard against the back of my knees. My legs buckled and I fell on all fours. **

Derek stiffened beside me.

**"Don't toy with me, little necro." **

**When I tried to rise, he hit me with an old plank swung like a baseball bat. I tried to twist out of the way, but he got my shoulder and knocked me into the railing. A crack, and the railing gave way. I toppled, and for a second, all I could see was the concrete patio two stories down. **

**I caught another section of railing. It held and I was steadying myself when the plank swung straight for my hand. I let go and scrambled onto the walkway as the board hit the railing so hard that the top rail snapped and the plank snapped, too, splinters of rotting wood flying. **

Tori paused. "Sh*t just got intense," I heard her mumbled.

**I ran toward the flat section of roof. He whipped the broken board at me. I stumbled back, bumping into the railing again. I caught my balance and looked around. No sign of him. No sign of anything moving. But I knew he was there, watching to see what I'd do next. **

**I ran for the door, then feinted toward the flat part of the roof. A crash. Shards of glass exploded in front of me and the ghost appeared, lifting a broken bottle. **

"Dammit," Simon muttered.

**I backpedaled. **

**_Sure, that's a great idea. Just keep backing into the railing, see how long it'll hold. _**

**I stopped. There was nowhere to run. **

"Obviously," Derek said under his breath. He'd been so quiet, I nearly forgot he was there.

**I considered screaming. I've always hated that in movies - heroines who scream for help when cornered - **

"Do you always use movie references?" Tori asked.

"Most of the time," I answered.

**but right now, caught between a broken-bottle-wielding poltergeist and a two-story fall, I could survive the humiliation of being rescued. Problem was, no one would get here in time. **

**_So. . . what are you going to do? The superpowerful necromancer against the bullying poltergeist? _**

**That was right. I did have a defense, at least against ghosts. **

**I touched my amulet. It'd been given to me by my mother. She'd said it would ward off the bogeymen I'd seen when I was little - ghosts, as I knew now. **

"Might not exactly be working," Simon pointed out.

**It didn't seem to work that well, but clutching it helped me concentrate, focus on what I was. **

**I pictured giving the ghost a shove. **

**"Don't you dare, little girl. You'll only piss me off and - " **

"What?" Simon cupped an ear with his hand. "If I heard right, I'd say that ghost is scared."

I snorted.

**I squeezed my eyes shut and gave him a huge mental push. Silence. **

"Woo!" Simon threw up his arms. "Necromancer - 1, Ghost - ZERO!"

I rolled my eyes, but smiled just the same.

**I waited, listening, sure that when I opened my eyes, he'd be right there. After a moment, I peeked and saw only the gray sky. **

Tori paused for a moment, a look on her face that said she was thinking. "A gray sky would actually be pretty nice. Like when it's morning, and the sun isn't up yet."

**Still, I gripped the railing tight, ready for a broken bottle to fly at my head. **

**"Chloe!" **

**My knees shook at the shout. Footsteps thudded across the roof. Ghosts don't make footsteps. **

**"Don't move." **

**I looked over my shoulder to see Derek. **

Tori flipped another page. "Well, the chapter ends with Wolf Boy here coming to the rescue." Derek let out a low growl, but I patted his arm lightly and he quieted down.

"Anyone want to volunteer for reading?" Simon said. "If anyone doesn't want to - "

"Guys?" Simon and Derek's dad, Kit's voice floated into our room. "It's almost noon. Do you want to head out for lunch?"

We looked at each other and nodded simultaneously. "Sure, Dad, coming in a minute!" Simon called back. Tori marked the page we were on and we headed out.

* * *

**A/N: Soo there it is. Hope ya liked it, and i'd love to hear your thoughts. **


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: here's chapter 3! once again, thx 2 my awesome reviewers :)  
**

**RosettaEmeraldGreen: I promise i will NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, abandon this story (even if the Death Eaters come back and destroy the world :P)  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own DP...**

* * *

_Chapter Three_**  
**

We ended up having lunch at Pizza Hut. Kit got us two extra large cheese pizzas and we all got our own sodas; Tori and I had Sprite, Simon had root beer and Derek had a glass of Coke.

"So," Kit said. "What have you been reading?"

Simon swallowed a bite of pizza. "Just something of Chloe's."

"Well, it must be good," Kit answered. I blushed.

Tori shrugged. "I guess it's pretty good."

Derek was too busy inhaling his food to add anything. We finished our lunch and headed back to the motel.

"Okay!" Simon said when we got back in the room. "Who wants to read next?"

I rolled my eyes. "Just read it, Simon."

He grinned. "Chapter 3..."

**Derek made his way across the flat section of the roof. He was dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, but his feet were bare. **

"Genius didn't think to put on shoes?" Tori mumbled. Derek scowled at her.

**"Watch out," I called. "There's broken glass." **

**"I see it. stay where you are." **

**"It's okay. I'll just back up and -" the wood creaked under me. "Or maybe not." **

**"Just stay there. The wood's rotting. It's holding your weight as long as you stand still."  
**

"Way to stay positive, D," Simon said.

**"But I walked out here, so it must be -" **

**"We're not testing that theory, okay?"  
**

**There was none of the usual impatient snap in his voice, meaning he was really worried.  
**

"Never would have guessed Derek could have gotten worried over someone other than Simon," Tori said, which earned her glares from me and Derek.

**And if Derek was worried, I'd better stay right where I was. I gripped the railing.  
**

**"No!" he said. "I mean, yes, hold on, but don't put any weight on it. It's rotted through at the base."  
**

**Great.  
**

**Derek looked around, like he was searching for something to use. Then he stripped off his shirt.  
**

"Seriously?" Simon said, looking up.

Derek shrugged and stood up. "I'm gonna get some air."

"We just got back from lunch," Tori reasoned. "Why do you need _more _air?"

"Just... just restless," he said, scratching his forearm. I knew what was really coming. I looked more closely at his face, and saw the light fever in his eyes, the sweat ringing his forehead.

I stood up,too, and motioned him into the hall. "Is it time?" I whispered.

"Not for another day, I'm guessing," he answered. "Now just go and stay there. I'll be back soon."

With that, he left, and I went inside and gestured for Simon to keep reading.

**I tried not to look away. Not that he looked bad without his shirt. The opposite, actually, which is why. . . **

Simon and Tori smirked while I flushed beet-red.

**Let's just say friends are really better when they're fully dressed. **

**Derek got as close as he dared, then knotted a corner of the T-shirt and tossed it to me. I caught it on the second throw.  
**

**"I'm not going to pull you in," he warned.  
**

**A good thing, because with his werewolf strength, he'd probably wrench it from my hands and I'd tumble off the roof backward.  
**

**"Pull yourself along - " He stopped, seeing I was already doing that. I made it onto the flat part, wobbled a step, then felt my knees start to give way.  
**

**Derek grabbed my arm - the one without stitches, bandages, and a bullet graze -  
**

"Tough break for the arm," Simon pointed out. I shrugged.

**and I lowered myself slowly. **

**"I-I'm just going to sit for a minute," I said, my voice shakier than I liked.  
**

**Derek sat beside me, his shirt back on. I could feel him watching me, uncertain.  
**

Just then, Derek walked back into the room.

"Better," he rumbled, then took his seat beside me.

**"I-I'll be okay. Just give me a second. It's safe to sit here, right?" **

**"Yeah, the slope's only about twenty-five degrees, so - " Seeing my expression, he said, "It's safe."  
**

Simon punched Derek's shoulder lightly. "Always gotta have the exact thing."

**The fog was lifting, and I could see trees stretching into the distance on all sides, a dirt road winding through them to the house.**

**"There was a ghost," I said finally.  
**

"Duh," Tori said under her breath.

**"Yeah, I figured that."**

**"I-I knew I shouldn't follow, but - " I paused, not ready for the full explanation, still shaky. "I stopped outside your door, hoping you'd hear me. I guess you did?"  
**

**"Kind of. I was dozing. Woke up confused, so it took me a while to get out here. Got a touch of fever."  
**

**I saw it now, the flushed skin and glittering eyes.  
**

**"Are you -?" I began.  
**

**"I'm not Changing. Not for a while.  
**

I had almost the same conversation with him a few minutes ago.

**I know what that feels like now, and I've got a ways to go. Another day, at least. Hopefully longer." **

**"I bet you'll Change completely this time," I said.  
**

**"Yeah, maybe." His tone said he doubted it.  
**

_But you did,_ I thought.

**As we sat there, I snuck a look at him. At sixteen, Derek was more than a foot taller than me. Solidly built, too, with broad shoulders and muscles he usually kept hidden under baggy clothes, so he wouldn't look as intimidating. **

**Since he'd started Changing, Mother Nature seemed to have cut him some slack. His skin was clearing up. His dark hair didn't look greasy anymore. It still hung in his face - nothing emo, just like he hadn't bothered to get it cut in a while. Lately, that would have been the last thing on his mind.  
**

Said person ran a hand through his hair, bangs lifted from his emerald green eyes. God, I loved those eyes.

**I tried to relax and enjoy the fog-laced view, but Derek fidgeted and squirmed, which was more distracting than if he'd just been his usual self and demanded to know what had happened. **

Derek frowned. Again.

**"So there was this ghost," I said finally. "He said he was a Volo half-demon. Telekinetic, but a stronger type than Dr. Davidoff. Probably the same kind Liz is. He lured me out here, locked the door, them started pelting me with stuff." **

"The jerk used a freaking broken bottle," Derek grumbled quietly.

**Derek looked over sharply. **

**"I banished him." **

**"Good, but you shouldn't have followed him at all, Chloe." **

"Derek didn't explode? That's a first," Tori said mockingly.

**His tone was calm, reasonable, so un-Derek-like that I stared at him, the weird idea that this wasn't Derek creeping through my head. **

**Before I'd escaped the Edison Group laboratory, I'd met a demi-demon, chained there as a power source. She'd possessed someone but only a ghost. Could Derek be possessed?**

"That's what you thought?" Derek said, corners of his mouth twitching, suppressing a smile.

"It was a possibility," I argued.

**"What?" Derek said as I stared. **

**"Are you okay?"**

**"Yeah, just. . ." He rubbed the back of his neck, wincing and rolling his shoulders. "Tired. Feeling off. Really off. Too much. . ." He struggled for the word. "Being here. Being safe. I'm still adjusting." **

"Only for Derek will being safe make you feel off," Tori muttered.

**That made sense. Derek's werewolf protective streak had been in hyperdrive for days, keeping him awake and on guard. Having someone else to watch out for us now would be weird. **

**Still, not blasting me for blithely following a random ghost onto a roof was so totally not Derek that I knew there was more to it.  
**

Derek glanced at me, eyebrows raised.

**When I asked what was bothering him, he muttered that it was nothing. I backed off and was about to explain more about the ghost when he blurted, "It's Tori. I don't like her story about how she got away." **

"So you think I was lying?" Tori spat. Sparks flew from her fingertips and Derek tensed, ready for a fight. I got them both to calm down so Simon could keep reading.

**When the Edison Group had almost captured us last night, they'd nabbed Tori. Yet when they'd refocused their efforts on the biggest threat - Derek - they'd left the young witch with only a single guard. She'd locked him in a binding spell and escaped. **

Simon thought that over. Then he shrugged. "Seems legit."

**"You think they let her get away?" **

**"I'm not saying. . . It's just. . . I don't have any proof."  
**

**And that's what was making him uncomfortable, that his misgivings were based on nothing but a gut feeling. The math and science whiz really preferred dealing in facts.  
**

**"If you're thinking she's been a plant from the start, she hasn't." I lowered my voice. "Don't tell her I told you this, okay?  
**

"Told you what?" Tori said, arms crossed.

**When she helped me escape, she only wanted to get away from the Edison Group and run back to her dad. So she called him. Instead he sent her mom - the woman we'd just escaped. Tori was hurt, really hurt. In shock even. She couldn't have faked that." **

"Oh," Tori sighed. "Told you that."

**"I didn't figure she was in on it from that far back." **

**"Just that she cut a deal last night?"  
**

**"Yeah."  
**

**"Would Tori turn us in for the promise of getting her old life back? It's possible, and we should be careful, but I _do_ buy her story. Unless her mom told them Tori was figuring out how to cast spells - which I doubt - then as far as they know, she just has random outbursts of power. Her binding spell could have taken out a single guard. I've seen her use it. She doesn't need to say an incantation. It's like, if she thinks it, she can do it."  
**

"Thank you, Chloe," Tori said.

**"No casting? No practicing?" He shook his head. "Don't tell Simon that." **

Simon looked up. "I think this is where I come in!"

Derek rolled his eyes.

**"Don't tell Simon what?" said a voice behind us. **

**We turned to see Simon step out of the doorway.  
**

**"That Tori doesn't need to use incantations to cast," Derek said.  
**

"Way to break it to him lightly," I said.

**"Seriously?" He swore. "You're right. Don't tell me." **

"Jealous?" Tori stuck her tongue out at him.

**He picked his way across the roof. "Better yet, don't tell her that I need incantations and weeks of practice, and I still suck."**

"Pretty sure she already knew that," I told him.

"Dam*," he muttered.

**"You were good with that knock-back spell last night," I said. **

**He grinned. "Thanks. Now, do I dare ask what you guys are doing hiding out up here? Or is it going to make me jealous?"  
**

**Simon was smiling as he said it, but Derek glanced away with a gruff "Course not."  
**

**"So you weren't having another adventure?" Simon lowered himself on my other side, so close he brushed against me, hand resting on mine.  
**

"Veerrry subtle," Tori said sarcastically.

**"It sure looks like a good spot for one. Rooftop hideaway, old widow's walk. That is what that is, huh? A widow's walk?" **

**"Yeah. And it's rotting, so stay off it," Derek said.  
**

**"I did. So, adventure?"  
**

"That's all you think about, isn't it?" I said.

Simon shrugged. "What can I say?"

**"A small one," I said. **

**"Oh, man. I always miss them. Okay, break it to me gently. What happened?"  
**

**I explained. As Simon listened, intent and concerned, he cast glances at his brother. Foster brother, I guess you'd say - one look at them and you knew they weren't related by blood.  
**

"It's that obvious?" Simon joked.

**Simon is fifteen, a half-year older than me, slender and athletic, with dark, almond-shaped eyes and spiked blond hair. **

"I'd say you did a good job describing me." Simon grinned.

"Quit talking already," Tori complained. "There might just be some duct tape lying around that will end up on your face."

**When Derek was about five, he'd come to live with Simon and his dad. they were best friends and brothers, blood tie or not. **

**I told him as much as I'd told Derek so far. Then he looked from me to Derek.  
**

**"I must have been sound asleep if I missed all that shouting," Simon said.  
**

**"What shouting?" Derek said.  
**

**"You mean that Chloe just told you that she followed a ghost onto a roof, and you didn't blast her all the way to Canada?"  
**

"Yeah, that's exactly what I meant," Derek rumbled.

"I've always wanted to visit Canada," I said.

**"He's a little off this morning," I said. **

**"More than a little, I'd say. Aren't you going to ask her for the rest of the story? The part where she explains _why_ she followed the ghost? Because I'm sure there was a reason."  
**

**I smiled. "Thank you. There was. It was a teenage guy who knew about the Edison Group and the experiments."  
**

"I hate Royce. Don't you guys?" Tori asked. We nodded agreement.

**"What?" Derek's head whipped around, the sound more growl than question. **

**"That's why I followed him. There's a dead kid here who might have been another subject, and if he died here. . ."  
**

**"Then that's a problem," Simon said.  
**

"You know how weird it feels to read your name in a story?" Simon said.

Derek rolled his eyes.

**I nodded. "My first thought, naturally, was 'Oh my God, we've been led into a trap.'"**

**Simon shook his head. "Not Andrew. He's one of the good guys.  
**

"Or so we thought," Tori added.

**I've known him all my life." **

**"But I haven't, which is why I prodded the ghost, and it was clear he hadn't recognized him. Andrew said this place was owned by the guy who started his group and was involved in the experiments. If there's a link to this kid, I think we'll find it there."  
**

**"We can ask Andrew -" Simon began.  
**

**Derek cut him off. "We'll find our own answers."  
**

**Simon and Derek locked gazes.  
**

"Staring contest,"I joked.

**After a second, Simon grumbled something about making things difficult, but he didn't argue. If Derek wanted to amuse himself playing detective, then fine. We'd be gone soon anyway, back to rescue those we'd left behind and take out the Edison Group. . . or so we hoped.  
**

"Dun, dun DUN! End of chapter 3," Simon said. "Who's reading next?"

The room stayed silent.

"I will," Derek sighed. He took the book from Simon and flipped to the next chapter.

* * *

**A/N: Well, there you have it :) chapter three. k, so i've been thinking about trying this out, just for fun. it's kinda like Q&A. you'll type a review and add a question for me afterwards. wadya think? **


	5. AUTHOR'S NOTE

~ Author's Note ~

Hey guys! I'm really sorry, you probably thought this was a chapter update. November is, as I hope you all know, National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). So, I will either not update at all or update very little throughout the whole month, since I have to write 50,000 words by the end of November. I'm sorry again, since I won't be writing that much for FanFiction this month. But just hang in there, and I promise I won't forget any of my current stories. I'll update whenever I can, so dont worry! Thanks for understanding. At least, I hope you understand... See ya!

~TTE


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